ABOUT THE OPED PROJECT

The OpEd Project is a social venture and leadership organization, founded to change who writes history. We are a community of thought leaders and change agents who actively share knowledge, resources, and connections across color, creed, class, sexuality, gender, ability, age and beyond. Through our nationally-recognized curriculum, our team of journalist mentors, and through a portfolio of programs in partnership with leading institutions across the nation and the globe, we accelerate the ideas and impact of underrepresented voices, including women of all backgrounds. We have been covered by most major media. We have stunning results.

The OpEd Project is also an active experiment in “funding our own liberation,” and we have an innovative hybrid model. We are a proud woman-founded, women-led social business (that builds revenue-generating programs to advance our mission) with a nonprofit arm (where we partner on grant-supported social impact initiatives, support our scholarship program and house our volunteer mentoring service). We exist to invest in people whose knowledge and experience is essential to our collective wellbeing and future, and without whom we cannot succeed.

WE BELIEVE:

• The story we tell becomes the world we live in.
• The world becomes more intelligent when it is more inclusive.
• The best ideas, regardless of where they come from, should have a chance to be heard and to change the world.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Are you a genius at growing community within the context of a social business? Are you a wily strategist, who gets excited about the idea of driving voice into the corners where it’s most needed? Are you a data-driven professional with a creative approach? Do you glean energy from tackling big goals with a dynamic, inclusive and close-knit team? 

The OpEd Project is seeking a visionary, go-getting leader to supercharge the growth of our community (currently more than 22K individuals and 300 organizations, built entirely by word of mouth). This is an extraordinary opportunity for an ambitious and resourceful professional with a track record of driving sustainable business growth to build deep and long-lasting relationships with individuals of all backgrounds, with the potential not only to change individuals’ lives but also to have collective historical impact. 

Partnering with the Senior Director, Growth and Partnerships and in ongoing consultation with the CEO, the mission of the Associate Director, Community Growth is to lead a team to implement a growth strategy that enhances our holistic “flywheel” model for public workshops, the primary engine through which we expand our reach and meet our mission. From generating awareness to engagement and referral, this role ensures the efficiency of all processes and the efficacy of all aspects of the participant experience and increases public workshop participation by 20% year on year. 

OUTCOMES:

Growth

• Drive revenue strategy and manage a small team to a revenue goal of $800K minimum in the first year, from ticket sales and individual purchases of our public offerings (workshops, expert talks, webinars, membership, private coaching etc).
• Build a roadmap for scaling our existing public programs and associated revenue, in partnership with the Senior Director and the CEO.
• Identify new revenue sources and implement new opportunities for community growth, allowing us to grow in bold new ways.

Experience and Engagement 

• Represent The OpEd Project in our workshops, at public events, and in other public facing endeavors, with passion, pride, fidelity and courage.
• Oversee the individual customer lifecycle, ensuring that all prospects and community members have superlative experiences at every touchpoint that exceed their expectations.  
• Build the structure for creating champions and generating word-of-mouth referrals using “flywheel” tools including HubSpot.
• Develop and implement community-building frameworks among public program participants, members and alums.

Outreach and Awareness

• Oversee B2C communications strategy, driving new participants into our public programs, and existing community members into our membership and private coaching options.
• Develop new tools to increase awareness of our transformative impact on individuals and in the world.
• Oversee the curation and execution (soup to nuts) of 12+ Expert Talks a year, in partnership with the Senior Director, Growth and Partnerships and CEO.
• Work closely with the team to develop and execute an authentic and innovative strategy for virtual events that resonate with existing community members and bring in new changemakers from target sectors.

Systems, Processes, Tools and Tracking

• Improve workflows to collect and analyze high quality participant data.
• Ensure the right infrastructure is in place to best leverage data analysis, including social media analytics, website traffic, and community online presence across platforms. 
• Oversee collection and analysis of community feedback through surveys and other tools and create processes to provide relevant teams with the most valuable and actionable suggestions in a timely way. 

Managing Team to Outcomes

• Manage program budgets and reporting for the public program portfolio.
• Supervise and develop a small and growing team of passionate staff, 1099 workshop facilitators and volunteer ambassadors.
• Create robust accountability structures to ensure everyone meets their goals.
• Foster and inspire a diverse, inclusive and vibrant community in keeping with our mission. 

DESIRED SKILLS & STRENGTHS:

The ideal candidate has:

• Deep alignment with The OpEd Project’s mission and vision, ideally having experienced meaningful impact directly as a Public Voices Fellow or participant in our core “Write to Change the World” workshop.
• Demonstrated ability to oversee and grow a portfolio of programs that engage and delight a diverse community. 
• Proven entrepreneurial drive and aptitude for business development.
• Aptitude and passion for customer experience and success.
• A growth mindset and deep listening skills.
• Powerful communication skills (both verbal and written), with a naturally warm, authentic and deeply personable communication style, and comfort in front of a crowd.
• Big-picture approach with simultaneous impeccable attention to detail.
• Creative problem solver with a keen eye for spotting opportunities for improvement and a passion for getting things done.

EXPERIENCE:

• Demonstrable impact in at least one of our five pillars of work: gender justice, racial justice, health equity, climate justice and solutions and the future of media and democracy.
• Holistic, first-hand knowledge of how organizations (and their communities) function and grow. 
• 5+ years building and scaling programs that drive significant impact, including building revenue and financial models and optimizing structures and processes for efficiency.
• 3+ years managing events, programs, or services that create transformative experiences.
• 2+ years with responsibility for a significant portfolio that involves managing many moving parts, people, and processes with cross-functional teams and a variety of stakeholders, driving them all toward successful outcomes through direct and lateral leadership.
• Comfort with building and employing systems, methods and an optimized tech stack to drive towards desired outcomes.
• Familiarity with inbound marketing and experience developing related content and social media campaigns.
• Proven knack for communicating about value and impact powerfully, authentically and consistently.
• Comfort with data analysis—from developing tools for measuring success to conducting meaningful experiments, to reporting regularly to senior leadership and leveraging insights to drive results.
• Experience with HubSpot and referral marketing software a plus.

TO APPLY

If you are execution-minded, entrepreneurial, organized, warm, and personable, and if you have a hankering to be a change-maker in the world, then we invite you to submit a resume and a short letter telling us why our work resonates with you and why you think you would rock this job. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. We encourage you to apply as soon as you can. Only candidates who have been selected for an interview will be contacted.

People of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and LGBTQIA+ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. The OpEd Project is committed to a diverse workplace and to supporting our staff with ongoing career development opportunities. The OpEd Project is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its employment decisions, in accordance with state and federal law.